Indiana Public Media News

Jet Stream, Sun Spots May Be Cause Of Warm Weather

Posted January 18, 2012

Experts say extremely warm weather this season is unusual. Sunday's high is expected to be near 60 degrees.

The winter season has been deemed by some weather experts in the top 10 warmest Decembers.

While others were shielding for cover on Tuesday from the massive downpour, Geography Professor Constance Brown was amazed at the indication of a weather phenomenon.

“Yesterday we had a massive cold front go through, and when it collides all of that energy, the heating at the surface this is unusual that causes this turnover that can really build the vertical clouds. That builds the kind of weather that we saw yesterday.”

IU Geography Professor Cody Kirkpatrick says weather patterns controlled by an extreme pattern of air called the jet stream, but experts are unsure why the fluctuation.

“There are a couple of possibilities, and one of those is sea ice in the arctic ocean is much less this year than it has been in previous years,” he says. “Solar activity is another possibility in sun spots. We really don’t know why or what causes these fluctuations from month to month or even season to season.”

Brown says the best way to plan for the weather is through the emergency management systems.

Shameka Neely, a native of Nashville, Tennessee enthusiastically joined WTIU as Senior Reporter/ InFocus Producer in the news department. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational and Corporate Communication, with a minor in Marketing and Masters of Arts Degrees' in Administrative Dynamics and Communication all from Western Kentucky University. Shameka also holds a Master of Arts degree in Journalism from Indiana University.

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